When the door opened, Gaara expected to see Sakura, but her mother appeared instead.

"Good morning."

"Come in, dear. Sakura is getting ready, but you can wait for her in the kitchen. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

Gaara didn't have time to say anything because her mom talked non-stop. She tried to caress his head, like a mother, but sand prevented her, forming a shield out of the blue, which made the boy panic.

"Oh, you have such an interesting power!" Mebuki said in admiration, which shocked the boy even more. "Go ahead and take a seat. I will go check on my daughter."

Gaara obeyed and sat on the chair with his hands on his knees like a good boy, waiting patiently. Mebuki placed a plate with almonds and nuts along with a glass of juice in front of him before she left the kitchen. The more he ate because of the stress of not knowing what to do next, the stranger he felt. Anywhere he looked, he felt as if someone was following him. When he took a closer look, he noticed the fridge had eyes, the cupboard had eyes, even his glass of juice had 2 black eyes that moved to look at him as he inclined the glass to drink. How strange.

Sakura's mom came back. She found him staring at the weird eyeballs glued on the glass.

"Ha! My daughter glued eyes on all objects in this room. When I woke up this morning, everything had eyes that were staring at me." She shook her body slightly to show that it was scary and uncomfortable. "You must have felt the same."

Gaara smiled when he found out it was Sakura who did it.

"Whose eyes are they?"

"What are you talking about? They're made of plastic, look!" Her mom stretched her hand in an attempt to take out an eye from Gaara's glass, but he moved it away a little, so she couldn't reach it. He didn't want to ruin Sakura's work.

Right at that moment, Sakura made her entrance in a green blouse with black trousers and a red headband.

"Gaara-kun, good morning. Sorry you had to wait."

"Good morning." Gaara replied happily.

Mebuki looked at her daughter and then to Gaara, then back at her daughter and her eyes shone thinking how sweet it was that her daughter has a friend.

"Did you take everything you need?"

"Yes, mom."

"The bag?"

"It's right here."

"Keys? Money?"

"Yes."

"Good. Have fun! Don't come home late tonight. You have school tomorrow."

"Yes, mother. Gaara-kun, let's go!"

Gaara greeted her mother before he followed Sakura outside.

"Where are we going?"

"I am so excited that you asked! We will go to the market. There are many vendors on the street who cook food on the spot and you can pick anything you want. I want you to try everything you don't have in Suna and I will write down in this notebook everything you like or dislike." She pulled out of her bag a small agenda with cats covering it and a message "I am pink!" on the front page.

"I didn't know you were so well organized." He said with a smile.

Sakura grabbed him by the hand before she dragged him to the market. His face was the same shade of red as his hair and he followed her without holding back. His mind was empty once again.

When they got there, Sakura let go of his hand to point upwards with her index finger to the colorful advertisements of the vendors. All of the big, curly, red letters were written on white fabric above the store. Some vendors had stalls on wheels; others made a hole in the wall where they improvised some sort of stove where they cooked different types of food. All of them yelled their offers and discounts. They screamed as if a snake threatened to swallow them whole.

"Come to us!"

"Taste our food. It's delicious!"

"Cheap and tasty!"

"There is no 'we don't have' or 'we can't do it'. "

That was everyone's motto. So much noise gave Gaara a headache. Back home, nobody talked or played with him, so every day was quiet. Sakura screamed so he could hear her through the incredible noise in the market.

"What do you want to try first?"

Let's talk here. I don't want to scream at you.

Good idea. So, what caught your eye?

I don't know. Let's take a look at everything and decide afterwards.

Ok. Gaara-kun, do you like seafood? Even if she agreed to what he said, she was too excited to refrain herself.

I have never tried them. Suna doesn't have a border with the ocean.

Then what do you say if we start with this? Don't be shy and tell me your honest opinion. If you don't like it, there are many other things we can try.

Sakura is very cute. I said in the past that I will never lie to Sakura-chan.

Sakura stopped in front of a stall where the vendor sold octopus on a stick, squid on a stick, fried fish on a stick, everything on a stick.

Please give me an octopus and a squid.

Gaara started laughing. The vendor asked the pink haired girl that was staring at him as if she was waiting for something.

"What do you want, little girl?"

Sakura realised the mistake she had made, slapped her forehead and repeated the order loudly.

"Sure, here you are." The vendor handed her the 2 sticks.

Gaara took out his wallet to pay, but Sakura beat him to it.

What are you doing?

Mom and dad are buying today. They gave me money especially for this occasion, so please don't worry about it.

"Thank you." She replied to the vendor and stepped away from his stall before handing Gaara the squid.

She took a bite of her octopus and closely looked at Gaara's face while she chewed, trying to tell if he liked it or not.

It's so chewy...it's very chewy.

Here, try mine and give me yours if you don't like it.

They exchanged.

This one isn't good either.

Sakura started laughing.

Give it to me. She took it from his hand and threw it in the garbage.

What are you doing?

There's no point in filling your stomach with something you don't like. Let's grab something else. What do you say about yaki imo?

What is that?

A baked sweet potato.

We have sweet potatoes in Suna.

Then senbei? Grilled rice crackers glazed with mirin and soy sauce. You can choose the flavor: nori, black sesame, red chili pepper or seafood. Wait, never mind the last one.

Sounds good. I want to try chili flavor then. I like chili.

Sakura paid for one senbei which they shared because it was very big. They sat on a bench, slightly turned to face each other as they ate from the senbei seated between them on the bench. His satisfaction was obvious, which made her glad because that was the main purpose: to make him feel good in Konoha. Her cheeks turned red from the spiciness. When she took another rice cracker, Gaara noticed the sand necklace swing around her neck and felt proud. As they continued to eat peacefully, Sakura fixed her eyes on a boy behind Gaara. Gaara turned around to see what got her attention.

Did you see anything?

She became too serious out of the blue.

Yes. It's the boy whose arm I broke when he attacked me.

Gaara frowned. He became cold and calm without a warning.

Does he bother you?

No. He's been avoiding me ever since.

Good.

He was relieved.

Sakura, I remember you told me you like pumpkin pies.

Waa! You remembered! You have such a good memory!

I want to try one.

Sakura jumped up from the bench, screamed in happiness from the top of her lungs and clapped her hands together at chest level. Gaara's brain memorized all of her unusual reactions. What a unique person!

The girl kept her word and wrote down in her agenda everything that her friend liked: senbei, pumpkin pie, dango, kushiten-a type of fish cake, yakisoba topped with an egg and served in a bun, imagawayaki- bite-sized golden sponges filled with bean paste. What he liked the most were candied strawberries.

I have never tasted anything sweeter.

I am so happy! I will write it down as number one on my list.

They left with their stomachs full. They were headed to the park where they could play together. Gaara taught Sakura how to make interesting shapes out of sand. While they were playing, a football flew towards them and it almost hit Sakura in the head. The sand from her neck and wrist mixed with Gaara's sand and formed a shield that protected her from the hit. Sakura closed her eyes tight and held her breath in anticipation, but she relaxed when she heard the ball hit something other than her head. Gaara stood up and was about to punish the boy who came running after the football screaming apologies, when Sakura yelled back at the boy while she threw the ball back at him:

"Don't worry about it. Just be more careful next time."

"Thank you." The boy took the football and left.

Sakura sat back down on the sand and resumed playing.

Why did you do that? Gaara asked, still standing.

He didn't do it on purpose.

You are too kind. They should be more careful around you.

He sat back down across her. After many moments of silence, Sakura remembered that she forgot to thank him.

Gaara-kun, thank you! Thanks to your sand, I haven't had any accidents at all.

Gaara smiled, but right at that moment he remembered his discussion with Sasuke: I will always save her. Where were you when she passed out? In Suna?

What was that? She asked because she heard his thoughts.

I remembered that I didn't ask you how you feel since you got out of the hospital.

I feel very good.

Good. I feel bad that I wasn't there to protect you. I think it was partly my fault you fainted because I pushed you to train harder than you were used to.

Gaara looked down at the sand.

I promise I won't be upset with Gaara-kun if he also promises to take care of me from now on.

Of course. I promise to protect you with my life when we grow up. I won't let anything happen to you.

Then everything is fine.

Sakura spilled a bucket of sand on top of the sand castle making it look like rain falling on stone. Her giggles tingled his ears. He raised his hand and made an umbrella shaped like a huge leaf out of sand, to cover both of them as Sakura caught sand in her fists before throwing it into the air and ran next to Gaara for shelter under the umbrella before sand fell like raindrops from the sky.

Later that day, Sakura, Gaara, Temari, Kankurou, Naruto, Ino and Sasuke gathered in front of a place to eat together. Ino's parents also came to supervise the kids, but they didn't intend to sit at the same table with the kids. One by one, they all walked inside. Sakura took a bad step and was about to fall when Sasuke caught her by the elbow and helped her regain balance. Sakura thanked him and walked ahead, without looking at Sasuke or Gaara. Gaara witnessed the scene and wished he was the one to help her. The smug look on the Uchiha's face said: 'See? I told you that I am the one who will always save her.' Gaara swallowed the lump in his throat and caught up with Sakura.

Take the window seat.

Sakura listened to him and he sat right next to her, so he was the closest to her and nobody could touch her. Sasuke frowned, but that frown disappeared as soon as it appeared. 'How did Gaara even the score so fast?'

Sakura wasn't complaining, but Gaara read the discomfort in her thoughts.

Does your foot hurt? He asked, looking at her.

A little, but don't worry. It's nothing serious.

Sasuke looked at them and knew something was going on. Everybody talked, but Gaara and Sakura looked at each other as if they could understand one another without talking. Ino quickly distracted Sasuke after she changed seats with Naruto, by clinging onto his arm, smiling stupidly at him as she nagged him with her questions. Gaara laughed inwardly.

I like your friend.

Why?

She keeps the Uchiha busy.

Sakura laughed, too. They were all in a place where everyone cooked their one meat on the grill situated in the middle of the table. The waiter brought them the pork and the grill became full with meat. Kankurou, Naruto and Gaara talked about training, puppets and made bets about who can do the most push-ups. Gaara didn't join the bets.

"Why don't you accept the challenge? Are you scared?" Sasuke asked Gaara.

"I'm in if you compete against me in a running contest."

"Ha! You can't say no now. You'll look like a coward!" Naruto screamed pointing at Sasuke with his index finger.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. Ino bent in front of Sasuke to grab Naruto by the ear.

"How dare you talk like that about Sasuke-kun? He is the fastest, most powerful and handsome boy in Konoha."

"You need girls to defend you, Uchiha?" Gaara mocked his rival, making Temari laugh.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and pushed Ino back to her place.

"Are you ok?" Sakura asked Ino.

"Leave me alone, forehead girl!"

Gaara threw her a stone-cold look, but didn't say anything.

"As if I'd ever enter a competition with idiots like you." Sasuke tried to get his honor back.

"Sasuke, don't talk like that." Sakura said.

Temari had to intervene before things escalated.

"Enough. So much talk causes indigestion. Let's eat."

Kankurou and Naruto yelled their approval, which annoyed Temari, but she didn't say anything. Temari was happy she had avoided a fight. She knew getting into a fight with Gaara was suicide. This Sasuke didn't know who he was dealing with.

Gaara-kun, I am sorry you are upset. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to come here.

It's not the place, but this Uchiha.

I will talk to him.

There is no need. I can handle it.

Sakura looked back into her plate.

You shouldn't let Ino talk to you like that.

What can I do?

Say something back to her. If you allow her to step on you, she will take advantage of it and will always use it to hurt you.

But, Gaara-kun. I am not like that. I don't talk like that.

Gaara's tone softened.

Sakura-chan, we've talked about this before. You are sensitive like a petal, but you can't show this sensitivity unless I am around. Otherwise, people are going to mock you. I didn't say anything this time because I and Sasuke were about to get into a fight…

Gaara-kun...

But next time, I will intervene if Ino has the courage to talk to you like that again.

No, please. I will think of something to say.

Gaara smiled. I hit the bull's-eye.

ℬ

Notes: Thank you for your feedback:D

I agree with you that Sakura is good-mannered, cute and elegant. Hopefully Rasa will see this in the future. Please tell me what you think about this chapter. The next chapter will come in about 2 days. I am sorry for the delay.